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Good Afternoon. On October 21, 1797, USS Constitution launched from a Boston shipyard. One of the young U.S. Navy’s original six frigates, it was built to help protect commerce. The launch began the work of putting a major investment into service.

Today’s businesses are working through their own next steps. Netflix is expanding its advertising tools, AT&T is adding connections, and Thermo Fisher is turning customer demand into better margins. We’ve also got borrowing data and overseas price pressures to keep those company results in perspective.

—Rosie, Wyatt, Evan & Conor

🔥 What’s Hot: 🔥

🥶 What’s Not: 🥶

🔢 Big number: $12.87 billion — Netflix’s quarterly revenue, up roughly 12% despite a softer advertising outlook.

Netflix earned $3.66 billion in the third quarter on revenue of $12.87 billion, up roughly 12% from a year earlier. But its advertising outlook lost some sparkle: the streaming company lowered its ad-sales forecast, according to Associated Press coverage of Tuesday evening’s results.

The news: Subscriptions, pricing and advertising all contributed to revenue growth. Operating margin reached 34.6%, compared with 28.2% a year earlier, though Netflix says expense timing helped the improvement. That distinction matters: a cost arriving later can flatter one quarter without permanently making the business cheaper to run. The company’s own forecast calls for full-year revenue of $51.1 billion and a 31.5% operating margin.

What’s next: Netflix plans to introduce its advertising tier in 15 additional countries in 2027, while expanding the tools advertisers use to buy and measure campaigns. More markets create opportunities, but the softer outlook shows that opportunity still has to become sales. Watch how the ad business develops alongside subscriptions, rather than treating a stronger quarterly profit as the answer to every growth question.

Source: Associated Press

AT&T added 769,000 internet customers across fiber and fixed wireless in the third quarter, alongside 379,000 postpaid phone customers. Revenue rose 5.3% to $32.3 billion. The company is trying to make its network spending pay twice: selling connections, then keeping households that combine several services.

The news: Fiber accounted for 442,000 of the internet additions; fixed wireless supplied the remaining 327,000. Advanced Connectivity service revenue grew 6.1%. Adjusted earnings rose to $0.65 a share, but reported earnings from continuing operations were $0.13. A charge on the Mexico wireless business reduced this year’s reported result, while last year included a gain from the DIRECTV sale. The adjusted figure helps compare operations without making those actual costs disappear.

Big picture: More connections require equipment, construction and customer support before they produce a lasting return. AT&T generated $5 billion of free cash flow, a company-defined measure, against $5.6 billion of capital investment. The useful test is whether customer additions keep translating into service revenue and cash as the fiber network grows, rather than whether one quarter delivers the biggest subscriber headline.

Source: AT&T

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s third-quarter revenue rose 9% to $12.14 billion, with 6% organic growth. The gap helps separate growth in the underlying business from changes to the company’s portfolio. Laboratories and drug developers are buying more from a supplier that serves several stages of their work.

The news: Reported operating income increased 17% to $2.26 billion, while adjusted operating income rose 15% to $2.97 billion. Reported operating margin improved to 18.6%; the adjusted measure reached 24.5%. Thermo Fisher completed the previously announced sale of its microbiology business during the quarter, so comparing total revenue alone would blur customer demand with businesses entering or leaving the group.

Bottom line: The results show revenue and margins improving together, with organic growth supplying most of the reported sales increase. That is more useful than assuming every extra sales dollar came from a newly purchased business. Follow the underlying growth measure alongside profitability to see whether demand continues to support the larger earnings base. Thermo Fisher’s reach across research equipment, laboratory supplies and pharmaceutical services gives it several routes to growth, rather than a single product launch to depend on.

Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific

Mortgage applications fell 5.3% in the week ending October 16, even as the average contract rate on a conforming 30-year fixed mortgage eased to 7.41% from 7.50%. A slightly cheaper loan wasn't enough to bring more borrowers into the weekly survey.

The news: The Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted purchase index fell about 7%, while refinancing applications declined 2%. Purchase activity remained 18% below a year earlier, and refinancing was 59% lower. These are applications for financing, not completed home sales. This week’s release adds a fresh observation to the October 9 survey covered last Wednesday; it doesn't simply repeat that earlier decline.

What’s next: Watch whether lower rates persist long enough to change borrowers’ calculations. A nine-basis-point move helps at the margin, but monthly payments still reflect a high mortgage rate applied to the price of the home. Refinancing has another hurdle: the new loan must offer enough savings to justify replacing the old one. Purchase and refinancing activity can recover at different speeds, so one improving rate quote isn't evidence that either group has returned.

Source: HousingWire

Elevance Health raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook to at least $29 a share after reporting third-quarter operating revenue of $50.4 billion, up 0.7%. The insurer’s quarter included a $1.85-per-share net non-operating benefit, so the larger earnings figure needs some unpacking.

The news: Adjusted earnings were $6.99 a share, compared with reported earnings of $6.27. Its benefit expense ratio improved to 90.6%, reflecting better Medicare Advantage and individual-market performance. Carelon’s operating gain grew 17%, helped by its services and specialty pharmacy businesses. At the same time, medical membership fell by 487,000 from a year earlier to approximately 44.9 million. Higher premium yields and fees helped offset fewer members in several insurance categories.

Big picture: Membership, medical costs and non-operating gains tell different parts of the earnings story. Elevance bases its expectation of at least 12% adjusted earnings growth in 2027 on a $26.75 baseline, excluding the identified non-operating effects, rather than the full $29 forecast. That lower comparison base is essential context: applying the growth promise to the wrong starting number would overstate what management actually projected.

Source: Elevance Health

Britain’s annual consumer-price inflation rose to 3.5% in September, from 3.1% in August, according to the Office for National Statistics. Transport supplied the largest upward contribution, particularly motor fuels. The price pressures facing households are getting stronger even though individual categories don't all move together.

The news: Motor fuel prices were 29.8% higher than a year earlier. Petrol rose by 8.2 pence a litre during September, and diesel by 10.7 pence. Restaurants and hotels provided the largest offsetting downward contribution to the change in annual inflation. Core CPI, excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, also increased to 2.8% from 2.6%. The report therefore shows more than an isolated change at the filling station, without suggesting every price rose at the headline rate.

Bottom line: The annual comparison reflects both today’s prices and what happened a year ago. For example, transport prices fell during September, but by much less than in September 2025, pushing their annual rate higher. Follow the components and the next monthly release when judging whether pressure is spreading. Today's report measures price changes; it doesn't decide the Bank of England’s next interest-rate move.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Japan’s September exports rose 16.7% from a year earlier to approximately ¥10.97 trillion. Imports climbed faster, by 18.9% to ¥11.51 trillion, leaving a ¥536.6 billion trade deficit in provisional customs figures released Wednesday. Export growth and a wider annual trade gap can coexist.

The news: The volume measures tell a different story from the yen totals. Export volume increased 1.9%, while import volume fell 1.6%; changes in unit values account for much of the growth in the money changing hands. The fiscal half-year figures also showed imports exceeding exports: April–September exports totaled ¥63.46 trillion against ¥66.28 trillion of imports. That six-month balance is separate from September’s monthly shortfall.

What’s next: Watch whether the gap between trade values and volumes narrows in later releases. A larger import bill doesn't necessarily mean households and businesses brought in more physical goods, just as higher export receipts don't automatically mean proportionately more shipments. The customs data let readers test both explanations. Subsequent revisions and changes in the product mix can alter the picture, so these provisional totals are a starting point for assessing trade rather than a final measure of domestic demand.

Source: Japan Customs

Triton Fund 6 completed its purchase of Germany-based United Initiators from funds advised by Equistone Partners Europe. The companies didn't disclose the transaction’s financial terms. This is a completed change of ownership, rather than an agreement waiting for its closing conditions to be met.

The news: United Initiators makes active oxygen products used to start polymerisation and in oxidation applications. The Pullach-based company employs more than 800 people and operates nine manufacturing facilities, with sites across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Americas, and Asia Pacific. It also operates two warehouses. Triton describes the purchase as its third industrial-technology acquisition this year and the seventh investment for this fund overall.

Big picture: This transaction is about a specialist supplier embedded in other manufacturers’ production processes. Its geographic footprint and technical products explain the industrial focus without requiring a household brand. The next chapter is operating under the new owner; the announcement supplies no purchase price, valuation multiple or earnings forecast. Those missing figures limit what can be said about the deal’s financial attractiveness, even though the ownership change itself is complete.

Source: Triton Partners

Q: Why did the picture go to jail?

A: Because it was framed.

Earnings yield: A company’s earnings per share over the past year divided by its current share price, expressed as a percentage.

In a sentence: Netflix’s earnings yield puts its annual profit per share in the context of what a share costs.

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